Aching Scars
by sdbubbles
Summary: Time can heal wounds, but they always leave scars that hurt sometimes. Sometimes you need to open up, just a tiny bit. Not much, but enough for someone to know how you feel. Hanssen/Sahira friendshippy-type thing.


**A/N: No idea where this came from, but I hope it's alright. See what boredom can produce? I'm starting to miss doing 5 Highers. How sad is that?**

**Sarah x**

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><p>He had been acting strangely all day, in her opinion. Only leaving his office when absolutely necessary, he did not deal with the issues so much as avoid them. Avoiding the issue was most definitely not in Henrik Hanssen's nature. So, after a rather strange visit to Darwin, Sahira followed him as he stalked back to his office. She slipped in behind him, not particularly caring if she was heard or not. She watched as he sat down and picked up what appeared to be a picture frame and smiled sadly.<p>

He knew she was there, but he also believed that she would keep a safe distance from him. He was proven wrong, however, when she made her way to stand behind him and glance over his shoulder at the picture in his hands. "Your mother?" she asked quietly.

"Your power of observation is unearthly, Miss Shah," he retorted, placing the photo of his family, including himself, carefully down on the wooden desk. She sighed as he reverted back to his usual defence: snide remarks. "Aren't you needed on Darwin?" he added, hoping she might take the hint and scram.

"They can wait five minutes," she told him. She glanced again at the picture and placed a hand on his shoulder. "How many years?" she asked gently, realising why he was acting out of sorts. She knew his mother had died, but had no idea when, how, where or why.

"Thirty-two," he answered. She waited for him to tell her more, knowing that he would. And, sure enough, he opened his mouth to speak. "She died when I was twelve, in a car crash. Her neck was broken and her chest crushed. She never stood a chance," he sighed. He looked up quickly at Sahira and accepted that she would not move until she heard everything that was making him hurt. "Three months later, my father sent me to a boarding school in England."

"I take it that that was when you became who you are now?" Sahira asked, processing it through her mind and finding the logic in who he was now and who he was as a child. Maybe there was some hope for him. Maybe he was capable of being a vulnerable person. The thing was that he always was so cold and careful with his feelings that many people thought he had none.

He did not answer but Sahira took it as a yes. She knew him well enough to know that he wasn't always like that. "Did you ever think that maybe letting someone in is better than you pushing them all away?" she suggested carefully, not wanting him to shove her away. She slowly put her fingers in his hair in a comforting gesture as he was surrounded by the ghosts of his past and his mistakes.

Hanssen's dark eyes darted to meet Sahira's and said to her, "I'll be fine." She smiled slightly. She knew he would say that, and she did not believe it even for a moment.

"You don't want to be alone today, Henrik," she told him firmly. "Believe me." She realised that it would not work, but it was worth a shot. He gave her a glare that told her not to push her luck. "Fine. I'm going back to Darwin," she sighed. She left, her hair flying behind her. Why did he have to be so irritating?

Later, after a long day, Sahira saw him through a crack in his door, staring thoughtfully out of his window. She carefully opened the door and cleared her throat. "You should go home. It's a beautiful evening. Shame to spend it stuck here," she said sympathetically. She picked up his coat and handed it to him. "Take a walk with me." He sighed and followed her, putting his coat on as he walked with her. They walked through the grounds of the hospital, Sahira asking meaningless questions in an effort to take his mind off things. "Why did you just leave Greg alone today, instead of chastising him for being so stupid?"

Hanssen heaved a sigh before he answered, looking at the ground, "I just did not have the energy to argue with him today. If he wanted conflict, he selected the wrong day to try," he explained. She smiled sadly at him and took his hand in hers. This was when she liked him the best; he was more open than usual, not caring what he told her because he knew she could see most of it anyway.

"I'm sorry, Henrik," she said, looking directly at his face and, in particular, his eyes. They were not as could and hard as usual. They were still very dark but there was a vulnerability around them that she was not used to. He allowed a single tear to escape before wiping it away hastily, slightly embarrassed. "You'll be OK. You always are," Sahira smirked.

They walked until night fell, talking as they went about the past and the present. Sahira did most of the talking, but the few words that did come out of Hanssen's mouth were meaningful. This was the way he felt most at ease with her, rather than arguing with her. This was when he allowed her to ease some of the pain he was not willing to put on display. This was when he was willing to let her in.

She pulled his face down and kissed his cheek before leaving for her car. Hopefully, he would feel better tomorrow. If not, she would happily do the same thing again for him. He was worth it because, although he was hard and cold, his past had made him that way. Most of it was not his fault, and he really was a good person underneath it all. A good person with a lot of scars.

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><p><strong>Hope it was OK!<strong>

**Please review!**

**Sarah x**


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